Black people are overwhelmingly dying from coronavirus in cities across the US

Deborah Barfield BerryUSA TODAY

Wednesday

Apr 8, 2020 at 7:26 AM

WASHINGTON — Black Americans are overwhelmingly dying of coronavirus at much higher rates compared to other Americans in some major cities, but most federal officials and states are not keeping track or releasing racial data on coronavirus victims, raising concerns about care for the nation's most vulnerable populations.

With coronavirus cases and related deaths soaring in cities with significant black populations, including New Orleans, Detroit and New York, civil rights groups, Democratic lawmakers and the White House have all called on federal health officials to release racial data to ensure resources and information are reaching every community affected by the outbreak.

President Donald Trump and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during a White House briefing Tuesday that African Americans were being hit hard by the coronavirus, representing a "tremendous challenge" for the nation, according to the president.

"We want to find the reason to it," Trump said, adding that national data on race and coronavirus cases should be available later this week.

Get daily coronavirus updates in your inbox: Sign up for our newsletter now.

Fauci said existing health disparities have made the outbreak worse for the African American community.

"So we are very concerned about that. It is very sad. There is nothing we can do about it right now except to give them the best possible care to avoid complications," Fauci said.

Less than a handful of states have released the information, including Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey and North Carolina. Data from these states show blacks are dying at a disproportionately higher rate compared with whites.

“This is a critical issue for us that we're raising and we're sounding the alarm,’’ said Hardie Davis, Jr., president of the African American Mayors Association and mayor of Augusta, Georgia.

In Illinois, for example, there were 12,262 coronavirus cases Monday and 307 deaths, according to the state’s Department of Public Health. Of the confirmed cases, 29.4% were black, 27.5% white, 9.4% Hispanic, 3.34% Asian and 24.4% were left blank. Of the deaths, 42% were black, 37.1% white, 7.5% Hispanic, 7% blank and 4.2% Asian. Roughly 15% of the state's population is black, while whites make up 77% of the state, according to the Census.

In Michigan, the numbers were also bleak, with African Americans accounting for just 14% of the state's population, but 33% of COVID-19 cases and 41% of deaths.

In Louisiana, one of the hardest hit states in the country, 70% of the deaths related to coronavirus were African American and 29% were white, according to the state’s health department. As of Monday, there were 14,867 cases across the state and 512 deaths. African Americans make up 32% of the state’s population.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards called the disparity “disturbing.”

“Obviously, this is a big disparity and we’re going to try to figure out what that is attributable to and what we can do about that as quickly as possible,” Edwards said at a press conference Monday.

African Americans may be vulnerable to complications from the coronavirus because many tend to suffer from underlying health conditions, including asthma and diabetes. But advocates are also worried that minorities in the U.S. aren't receiving adequate information about the illness, or access to testing.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it is collecting racial data provided by states. Some of that data has not been complete and some has not yet been submitted. The agency is waiting for more information before it compiles it. A spokesperson told USA TODAY Tuesday that the CDC would release information about COVID-19 hospitalizations later this week that includes data on race and ethnicity.

Information about gender is reported so why not race, said U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust. Kelly said the first person who died from coronavirus in Illinois was an African American woman.

The facts will inform policy and programming and what resources are needed and where, said Kelly, who, along with Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kamala Harris of California and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, sent a letter to the federal Department of Health and Human Services asking the agency to collect and release racial data.

“We need to make sure we’re prepared,’’ Kelly told USA TODAY.

Lawmakers want to know who is being tested for coronavirus

Lovely Warren, mayor of Rochester, New York, said local officials need racial data to know where to channel resources.

She said the first coronavirus death last month in Monroe County, which includes Rochester, was a 57-year-old African American male. She said she knows that only because the family released the information on Facebook.

As of Monday, the county had 543 cases and 26 deaths. She said her city, the third largest in the state, is expected to see more deaths in April. Meanwhile, New York, one of the hardest hit states, hasn’t yet released racial data on the deceased.

“Without everyone reporting the data, you can’t see the magnitude of the problem,’’ said Warren, the second vice president of the African American Mayors Association.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan directed his state's Department of Health this week to provide racial breakdowns for all Maryland cases, including testing, hospitalizations and mortality rates. He noted that much of the testing is done by private doctors through private labs outside the state.

New Jersey officials released data Monday that listed race for 729 out of its 1,232 deaths. Of those, 60% were white, 24% were black, 5% Asian, and 11% other. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said the goal was to add more racial data to ensure all residents were getting proper care.

"Invariably, there are folks who are left behind," he said in a press conference. "More often than not, that population that's getting left behind is over-represented by communities of color."

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is also pressing for the release of more racial data. Hispanics, who are more likely than other groups to not have health insurance, also tend to have poor health that could make them vulnerable to the coronavirus.

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, chairman of the caucus, said communities of color have long suffered because of health disparities, “but you can’t fix what you don’t measure.’’

Who is dying from coronavirus?

What we do know about who is dying from coronavirus appears to be inconsistent because some counties are slow to report, meaning statewide information is not always up to date, advocates said. Davis, the mayor of Augusta, Georgia, said Monday he was told by local health officials there were 266 coronavirus cases in his area, but the state website had a lower number.

“There's a lag between the reporting that is happening, between the testing that's happening on the ground in local communities, versus what states are reporting,’’ he said.

InLouisiana, the Department of Health said it is reporting the racial breakdown of deaths each week, though officials said they may expand racial reporting to all positive cases.

The department’s top coronavirus expert, Dr. Alex Billioux, said the high number of African American deaths is likely a result of Louisiana's black population suffering from a disproportionate number of underlying conditions contributing to COVID-19 deaths, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity. Billioux said the state will conduct more research into the disparity and form strategies to mitigate it.

"Sadly, we know there is a significant racial health disparity in the state," Billioux said.

Communities of color have long faced disparities in the health care system in part because of discrimination, poor health and insufficient insurance coverage. This has particularly hurt African Americans in the Deep South, where most of the nation's black population is concentrated, health experts said.

"This exposes the structural deficits that we’ve all known about, but when you put an accelerant like coronavirus in the midst where African Americans are disparately impacted,'' it demands solutions, said Derrick Johnson, president of the national NAACP.

Advocates say it’s not clear why some states have released the information and others haven’t.

“What we know is that race matters and that we need this data to inform an effective response to the pandemic,’’ said Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a non-profit based in Washington, D.C.

Clarke pointed to the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits federal funded agencies, including health care providers, from discriminating based on race. Having the data is key to determining whether agencies are complying, she said.

African Americans need to know they are at risk

Officials said the data could also help make sure credible messages are getting to black communities, where a myth insisting that African Americans couldn't get the coronavirus initially took root based on early testing results showing many elderly white Americans were getting sick.

In some communities, the message of social distancing doesn't seem to be hitting home, with people still playing basketball, having card parties and hosting sleepovers, say black mayors.

The message, said Warren, the mayor of Rochester, may have to go beyond, "just stay home."'

“I don’t think our community is taking it as seriously as it should and the data will be able to help us to bring that message home a lot more,” she said.

Michael McAfee, CEO of PolicyLink, a research institute focused on racial equity, said he’s worried this may be the first wave of deaths for African Americans if more isn't done.

“Think about how we see this spreading in Louisiana. Think about what the carnage it’s done in Detroit, just places that we know are predominantly black,’’ he said. “This is not going to be a good outcome.’’